Sitting Next to Zoe

Ivana Lalović

Date: 08 November 2014

Location: Cinema

Director

Ivana Lalović

Country

Switzerland

Year

2013

Format

Digital

Duration

1h28m

For Ages

15+

Language

German with English subtitles

“Very realistic and moving, and really enjoyable to watch” “Great for a young audience, realistic and relatable” “Fun and girly but also has some deeper and darker issues” “Really good music” “Everything you want in a coming-of-age film”

Discovery Young Ambassadors

Asal and Zoe are the best of friends and plan to have a fun summer before starting the next major chapter of their lives. Asal comes from a tight-knit Turkish family and wants to break free of their expectations in terms of her education and friendships, while Zoe dreams of building on her love of style and fashion and becoming a make-up artist. But the reality threatens to be very different, and when the arrival of Swedish hitchhiker Kai endangers the very foundations of their friendship, things begin to unravel dramatically.

This coming-of-age drama has been awarded prizes at a number of film festivals for its very honest depiction of teenage relationships at a critical time of their lives, and it is particularly refreshing to see two young women at the heart of the drama.

For those who prefer the more typical emphasis on the teenage male perspective, have a look at 1987 which covers entirely similar ground with four young men in the spotlight.